Amazon opening up App Store to 200 new countries

Will a global Kindle Fire rollout to follow?

With the Kindle Fire HD selling like hotcakes and rumours of an Amazon smartphone getting louder and louder, the online retailer has decided to throw more fuel on the fire of speculation by opening its App Store to an additional 200 markets around the world.

Previously only available in the US, UK, Germany, France, Italy, Japan and Spain, the App Store will roll out over the coming months to a large number of additional countries, including Australia, Brazil, Canada, Mexico, India, South Africa and South Korea.

The Amazon app store, with more than 50,000 apps, will be available to download to a wide number of Android devices, offering Android users an alternative source of apps to buy on their device.

Developers can now dictate which countries they wish their app to appear in, while international developers can also begin enjoying the new global reach of the Amazon ecosystem.

Setting the world on Fire

The last time that Amazon expanded its App Store access back in 2011 from the US-only to include the UK and European countries, it was a precursor to international availability of the Kindle Fire overseas.

Whether this global expansion is planned for the current range of Fire tablets or a new breed of Amazon smartphone is pure speculation, but it's unlikely that Amazon doesn't have a strategy to expand its hardware footprint outside of the US and Europe.